The Road Not Taken
by crazy.has.a.plus.side.xx
Summary: set after s06e09-the doctor in the photo. what are they really feeling? and how can it all be resolved? what will happen when brennan and booth try to work together again? please read : you never know, this might solve EVERYTHING!
1. Chapter 1

**BEWARE: SKIP THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN S06E09 –SLIGHT SPOILERS- OR IF YOU DO NOT LIKE LONG PSYCHOTIC (PHSYCOTIC, PSYCOTIC) RAMBLINGS …**

**Heyy ****I don't know what to say. I'm still in shock from this week's episode. It took me so long to stop totally freaking out, I had to call my 2 Bones besties (Liv n Jess, thanks for being amazing) with one phone on each ear, and we talked about it and cried for almost 2 hours. I feel a tad better now; at least I've stopped shaking. . . .HANNAH! Even more now… the possibilities would be so much better if she didn't exist. I seriously think she should die. But then that would make Booth sad, and Brennan, and everyone. It shouldn't. And I can't believe he chose his girlfriend of six months over the love of his life whom he has known for six years. It all happened the wrong way around. Booth, if you didn't want to hurt Bones then you would have chosen correctly. This is making me sad again… :'( I miss before Hannah; it was all so much happier and easier. Now it's just all lying and hating. Season six sucks. I wish they would just get on with it and kill Hannah; Brennan was so lonely that she went crazy about the victim. She's going to be so hurt when we finally see them again. Then I hope Angela sees how miserable Brennan will be, and bashes Booth cos Angela is superwoman-dominatrix :P hahaha she so is cos Ange is cool. Now I'm happy, I hope I haven't bored you to tears with my ramblings, I just needed to get it out of me and now I feel better. **

**Okay, on with the story…**

Brennan's POV:

I am not alright. I have to repeat that I will be; it doesn't change anything. I can hope, but not change reality.

In reality I am sad that Booth would choose Hannah over me; I thought he loved me. I knew it all along but I could never bring myself to that conclusion. Every time I came close I thought something was wrong and started all over again. It was only until I was almost ran over on that dark, rainy night that I knew I would have regrets in life if I didn't admit my true feelings for the man I love. But I tried to tell him and immediately he chose Hannah, just because she got to him first. I do not find it fair. This just deepens my sadness.

In reality I am afraid that I will never have what I want now with Booth; and I should not have to change for him and Hannah to be happy.

That is why in reality I am angry at the both of them that I cannot have happiness. I cannot because of them. And I am angry at myself because I should not let someone control me.

In reality I am also confused. I don't know if I am able to be friends with Hannah again if jealousy will overcome me. Maybe. But I'm no sure. What if something slips out when I am talking to her? 'Hello, Temperance.' 'Hi snatcher' what if it happened? I would not forgive myself, and Booth certainly wouldn't.

I wonder if I will ever have the chance again to be with Booth.

"Hello, is Doctor Brennan there?" I heard a voice slowly saying, close my ear.

"Yes that is me." I said matter-of-factly.

I looked up and all around me my team were staring at me, I can feel the heat rising on my neck. So I turn around, grab a piece of paper, and start reading it, acting like it was important. They can't talk to me if I am reading the autopsy report. Well, it was the closing case paperwork from the last case, but still, they didn't know that.

Angela placed a hand on my arm. "What's wrong, sweetie?"

I alarmingly spun around. No, I was supposed to be acting normal so it would look like I was alright. I offered Angela a smile, "I'm fine thank you, nothing is wrong." I lied, again. I hoped I could keep up my act just a bit longer.

"Sweetie, you keep randomly blanking out, you're looking like you haven't slept in a week, and fine people most certainly do not read paperwork a hundred times." Angela held up the piece of paper that I was still trying to read.

"I'm just tired, Angela. Please let me finish this examination so I can go home and sleep." I pleaded.

"Bones, you want to go home?" I heard booth call out to me as he walks up the platform.

I ran over to the opposite side of the platform to check the computer. I didn't run on purpose, I was just afraid of being near him.

"Yes, I would find it beneficial to catch up on my sleep. I am very tired you know." I yawned loudly, just to make a point. I don't over-dramatize all the time, but I just want to go home.

"But bones, we got a case!" Booth sounded excited, why would he get excited over he death of someone else?

"Okay, let me get my things." I walked towards my office.

I was startled when I arrived in my office, because Angela was sitting at my desk, playing with my phone.

"Nothing on your calendar." She murmured. I was confused and annoyed that she was touching my personal things.

"It's an organizer. And it does contain content so what are you looking for?" I took my phone back and glanced at the screen. She was looking at my events for last night. Crap.

I sat down with her on the couch. I had to tell her. "Angela," I said slowly, "You need to know what really happened, I shouldn't keep anything from you. Last night, I found out how the victim died because I was walking across the road, I found that reflective surface. But you know all that."

"Yeah, good job with that." Angela said to me.

"But anyway, Booth and I never told anyone what happened after that. And I think you should know. I was bending down looking at the reflective marker on the road, and a car came straight at me. I thought I was going to die, then Booth came out of nowhere and, well, he saved me."

Knowing that he saved my life made tears run down my face. Angela rubbed a consoling hand on my back. I smiled appreciatively at her, but can't stop crying.

"He took me home, but in the car we talked. I told him, Ange, I told him everything. I told him that I did not want regrets in my life, that I wanted him. Straight away, he told me that he had moved on and he was in love with Hannah. That we couldn't be together because of her. What am I going to do Ange?"

Angela pulled me in for a hug. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry sweetie. That's so horrible, I can't believe Booth would do that to the both of you."

We sat there for a while, Angela trying to her best to console me.

Booth poked his head through the door, staring at us women.

"Everything alright in here?" Booth looked shocked.

I got up and gathered my bag and my coat. I headed out after Booth. At the door I looked a Angela, I tried to give her a deadly stare and I put a finger to my lips. I didn't want her to tell anyone.

I followed booth out to his car. I wanted to get to the crime scene quickly because I was afraid of what would happen when we were driving. If we started to talk about last night I was not sure what I would do. I would probably start crying, I wonder if Booth feels sad that I know I love him now. None of this is fair, but I shall live with my regrets.

**There it is… hope you like it ****it's a bit sad but hey, so was bones ****please, please let me know what you think; I LOVE REVIEWS! **

**I might write the rest in third person, let me know which you prefer. **

**-rach **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello **** HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Lol I just thought I would say it randomly **** hope everyone is well. Sorry, I'm not good at updating quickly but I'm trying my best **** I've been really busy, it's the holidays! My rabbit died recently **** I'm okay enough to write now. This chapter starts just before the first one, then the end bit is just after where the first one left off. Just to clear things up **** Anyhow, I bet you want me to get on with it by now, so I will **

Booth sat at the kitchen table across from his girlfriend. He was scooping up his cornflakes, and then spinning the spoon upside down. He listened to the cereal plop back in the bowl.

He hadn't been able to do anything this morning, ever since last night. He couldn't eat or sleep. Booth even considered calling in sick. He was sick anyways, sick of the horrible thoughts and images going through his head.

Booth could he have turned down the best opportunity he ever had. He really did love Bones, and you can't just get over the love of your life. He didn't just think that, did he? He had Hannah.

Bones thought she did not want to die with regrets. Now he was going to. The 'What if?' question would constantly plague his mind when he was with Hannah. This proved that Bones would be better for him. The love of his life. Oh lord, what had he done? She couldn't possibly forgive him now.

"Babe? Your phone is ringing." Hannah tried to get his attention.

Booth looked up at her. He blinked and yawned.

"Well, are you going to answer it?" Hannah asked.

"Nope."

"Hey, you okay?"

"Sorry honey, I'm tired. Worked late last night." Booth stood up and emptied his half full bowl in the bin. Hannah raised her eyebrow at him. "I'm not hungry." He explained as he shrugged.

"You know, it would be better to feed it to a dog." Hannah suggested.

"What, are you suggesting we get a pet?" Booth playfully mocked her as he stepped closer to her. He took her bowl and said "I hate dogs anyway".

"Hmm, do cats like cereal?" Hannah smiled at him.

"Not a cat person." Booth chuckled.

"You're just being difficult, aren't you?" She asked, but found it funny.

"Why are you pressuring me?" He asked.

"I'm not! I was just wondering. What more is there for us? Is this it?"

"Come on, do we have to do this now?"

"I guess not then." Hannah said, and started to wash up the dishes.

"Hey, sorry but that was my boss before. I got a text this time. There's a body found. Got a case."

Booth dialed Bones' number. She picked up on the first ring.

"Hey Bones how are you? Listen we've got a case. I'll come pick you up in 15?"

"Hello Booth. Yes that would be fine. You can fill me in on the details on the way there."

"Okay" Booth was about to say goodbye, but Bones cut in.

"Hey Booth? I wanted to talk to you. About last night."

Booth left the room to change, and so Hannah didn't have to hear.

"Okay, can't this wait? I mean I'm sorry; I really don't want to hurt you. I care about you. But I want see you face to face."

"Okay Booth, I understand. I just wanted to ask if we could not talk about it. It would attract unnecessary attention."

"Sure Bones that's fine. See you soon" he agreed.

Booth finished putting his suit on, then went into the lounge room. Hannah was sitting on the couch, watching some lame sitcom. He kissed her on the cheek.

"Talk to you later babe." He said and walked down the hall.

"I love you" she called out.

"You too" he called back.

He grabbed his phone and keys, and went to pick up Bones at the lab.

…¿?* *?¿…

Booth smelled freshly clipped grass and the fresh scent of rain. Despite all the puddles and mud, a few kids were playing football getting all dirty. He used to be like that. So carefree and energetic, a true football lover. He still was, but now the park caregiver led him, Bones and Cam through a few minutes walk of forestry.

All of a sudden the smell punched him in the face. Decomposing flesh. Oooh, goodie.

"This ID is faded, but probably a shrink or something by the looks of the faint logo on his card, but we can't be sure. It still needs forensic confirmation."

Oh great, Booth thought. Could be Sweets' species.

He watched as Brennan and Cam removed the rest of the fallen leaves and dirt from the victim's body. It looked gross. Some animals must have just found the body. Bits of flesh were ripped off his body, and some bone was revealed. It only just still looked human.

Brennan and cam got to work while Booth watched over them. Poor guy, he thought.

**Yes, we have a case! **

**I won't be able to update for a week because I'm going to stay at my friend's. But if I get enough reviews then I might be able to update tomorrow morning ;) **

**Oh and just one thing, since the doctor in the photo is kind of in Brennan's perspective, all the Brennan POV chapters will be in first person, the others in third person **** hope you enjoy**

**Xox-rach**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it's been a while, but after I got home from my friend's house, my mum decided to take me and my sisters to sleep at Taronga zoo! It was great fun, but on top of that I was in the middle of this chapter when I started to get a bit of writers block. And then I put it in the manager, but forgot to post it :/ reeeaaaaaalllllyyy sorry. But anyway I hope you like it : ) here comes chapter three! **

**As always my love and thanks to Liv and Jess you guys are awesome : )**

…¿?*OoO*?¿…

Angela sipped her tea. Chamomile was supposed to be calming, but she was still too stressed to work.

She was worried about Brennan. What she had just heard was heartbreaking for her friend. Ange had hoped for that moment to happen for almost seven years. She knew that Brennan and Booth were unnecessarily taking this too slow, they both wanted to be more than friends. Like she always thought, they were a couple, they just didn't have sex. There was no other way to explain how close the partners were, and they were stuck together like friendly glue.

But Brennan and Booth had been growing distant since they came back from Maluku and Afghanistan. They both denied any difference, but Angela knew the reason behind the couple's new resistance. A woman named Hannah. She hated her more than anything right now. She had taken away the opportunity for what could have been he most wonderful thing to have ever happened between he friends.

But Booth couldn't see that. He was still in the relationship bubble, and he was missing what was right in front of him. Angela knew that Booth and Brennan were perfect for each other, but Hannah was just a big shadow stopping them.

Angela gave up on calming herself, gulped the last of her tea, and sat off to work. Since there was nothing else to do, she retrieved a box of bones from limbo. Angela would try her best to help this poor soul, starting with a facial reconstruction.

After hours of work, Angela had a skull covered in clay and a sketch of the victim staring back at her. She was a pretty girl. Now she was a pile of bones.

As Angela was waiting to get a result from her sketch, a loud grumble came from her growing stomach.

"Aw, is baby getting hungry? Must be time for lunch!" Angela let out a small giggle as she realized that talking to your own stomach was an indicator of insanity.

The next moment she felt arms wrap around her from behind and a fuzzy kiss was pressed to her cheek.

"Hey" she said to her husband, before turning around to embrace him.

"You know, you sound just a bit crazy. Talking to yourself." Hodgins chuckled, "want to grab a bite to eat?"

"Sure, Diner?" Angela asked, and they were already walking out of the office.

…¿?*OoO*?¿…

Twenty minutes later, the couple was just finishing their lunch. After their plates were cleared Hodgins ordered two cappuccinos and a cheesecake to share.

"Hey, what's up? You feeling okay?" Hodgins asked.

Angela smiled at him. "Don't worry, it's nothing."

"Sure, nothing. Nothing makes you not like cheesecake, does it? You love cheesecake!"

"I do like cheesecake! Maybe it's just the baby."

"Hmm, okay. I didn't know your appetite changed that quickly. You were practically addicted to cheesecake yesterday, remember? Twelve slices in one day!" Hodgins laughed a bit at his hectic wife.

"Okay, well I don't know. I keep thinking about something, but I can't tell you." Angela said.

"Hey, if something's got my wife worried, then I want to know. Do you love me?"

"Of course." Angela patted his hand on the table and gave him a smile.

"That's great, well, do you trust me?"

"Yes."

"Why can't you tell me then? It's okay. Whatever you're worried about I can fix it."

"Okay, well, Brennan and Booth-"

"Oh, no no no no. I'm not interfering with that!"

"Alright, um, do you want to know?"

"Yes!"

"Hum, okay. Well this morning I was talking to Bren, you know how weird she was acting. It turns out that if you see Booth, he would probably be the same way. You see last night when Brennan found that reflective surface, the way the victim died, Booth saved her from being run over. He drove her home, and apparently something spoke to Bren about the case, and she didn't want to live life with regrets. So she realized she wanted to be with Booth. But he turned her down for Hannah."

Hodgins gasped when she was done, and held onto her hand because it was making Ange sad.

"I feel so bad for Bren. I mean, we have known they're in love with each other for years. But now it's got Bren so upset because Booth is in love with the wrong woman. And one of the worst things is, she forgot to tell him that she loves him."

"Aw, that's horrible Angie."

They sat there for a few moments in silence, pondering over the misfortunes of their two friends. Then Hodgins' phone rang.

"Hello. Oh, okay. Yep, will be there ASAP." Hodgins stood up, left a generous tip, and then helped Angela up. "I'll drop you back at the lab. They want me at the crime scene."

"Okay, I'll see you later. Hey, don't act weird or anything around them if you can help it. And do not tell Bren that I told you." Angela placed a kiss on his cheek.

"Yeah, whatever you say" a smiling Hodgins replied.

**Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think : ) sorry is a bit bad I'm still a tad blocked, I really don't know what to say! **

**And I am really excited for bones spoilers! I hear a lot of exciting things will be happening ; ) **

**Btw, one of my beautiful guinea pigs, Melly, just popped out 2 cute little bubs : ) yay **

**Take care ; love Rach : ) xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello **** it is lovely to be back on the computer, sorry it took so long. I just get a bit obsessed with the show NCIS at random times, and when my friend (a Bonnie to my Clyde, lol one of them bones-ncis-weird-people, yeah that's right it was Livvy) lent me season six, I kind of got too attached to my tv ;) but I'm ready to write again, and especially excited since *the stupid it thing* is gone! Yay **

**But as much as I was happy that Hannah left, WHY DID YOU HAVE TO GET DRUNK AND BE SO STUPID BOOTH? YOU BROKE YOUR BONES' HEART AGAIN! GAHH. Sorry about that. So now, I think you all should READ! **

Colin Fisher stared at the bones of the victim, wondering what devastation this person suffered before their demise. His thoughts drifted like the calming sound of the ocean he heard.

He took the fourth rib and inspected it closely; he thought he saw a speck. Under the microscope he saw some particulates, but couldn't tell what they were.

"HODGINS!" Fisher yelled at the top of his voice. He turned around only to see the curly haired scientist, and a few others, looking his way. Hodgins was at the other side of the platform with a confused expression on his face.

The intern walked over to him. "Sorry man didn't see you. I've found some particulates on a rib and I need to know what they are." Fisher handed him Hodgins the rib.

"Okay, I'll let you know when I, uh, have something."

Hodgins tried to make a beeline for his office.

"Hey," Fisher called, "What's up?"

"Nothing. Nothing's up." Hodgins called, still walking to his office and out of sight.

…¿?*!i!*?¿…

Fisher was finishing the last of his herbal infusion when his phone buzzed. He picked it up and saw that it was Hodgins.

"Hey man, got anything on those particulates?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's some shavings of metal. I will have it narrowed down to the specific type and origin soon. Where are you now?"

"I'm just relaxing in the bone room." Hodgins could hear the loud rushing of water, Fisher's oceanic calming method.

"Well do you want to come over to my office?"

"Sure, do you want me to ring Doctor Brennan?" Fisher asked, trying to be helpful.

"No." Hodgins snapped. He didn't want to risk Brennan discovering that he knew what had happened with her and Booth, so he decided to avoid speaking to her.

…¿?*!i!*?¿…

Fisher walked into Hodgins' lab, and as he was coming in he bumped into Angela. He smiled at her. "How are you and your baby going?" he politely asked.

Angela smiled as she hurriedly shuffled past him, "great thanks, have a nice day!"

The intern took a seat on a spare stool where Hodgins was working on his microscope.

"Hey, so where was Angela off in a hurry to?" he started.

Hodgins sighed, "Ahh; she's going shopping," Hodgins said so in a disapproving tone.

Fisher looked at him, expecting an explanation.

Finally when Hodgins looked up, he saw Fisher's face and chuckled. "Gosh, do you have to look at me in that tone of voice?"

They both laughed. Then Hodgins explained, "I guess when Angela goes shopping, I don't really love it because I'm too busy here to go with her. I just worry when she's not with me. And my god that woman can spend money."

Fisher laughed again, then coughed and put on a straight face. "So what results have you got?" Hodgins smirked, and then started explaining his find."Well, the metal particulates are from a knife. A stainless steel one, to be exact. It's a quite common one that can be bought from a hardware store so it wouldn't be very easy to track the origin."

"alright, well we should keep it in mind but I need to examine the other bones closely, I will come to you if I find something." Fisher got up, and started to exit but turned around. "can I ask you something?"

"yeah, sure man. Sit back down if you like." So fisher took back his place. "is it just me, or is everyone acting a bit weird? I mean no one is talking to Doctor Brennan, I haven't actually seen her at the lab all day. I haven't seen booth either, he is usually in a bit. And I swear I saw Doctor Brennan having a bit of a breakdown in Angela's office this morning. She looked like she was suffering from low self-esteem or a bad experience."

"and since when did you become Dr. Phil?" Hodgins asked jokingly.

"that's a bit of what I mean. I don't want to be offensive, but you're a bit touchy when I mention Doctor Brennan too. Is there something wrong?"

"oh well I guess this counts as guessing it, right?"

"guessing what?" fisher was confused.

"Well, do you think it's obvious that something happened? I guess if you sort of know, she won't kill me as much." Hodgins smiled.

"okay, somehow in my life I managed to make something by the monstrosity of the passing of others, and some people would consider me intelligent. You have me confused easily."

"ok, I guess if you know that something is goin on, here goes. But under no circumstances must you mention this to anyone else, ever. At lunch with Angela, we were talking and this sort of happened with me and her. She explained why Agent Booth and Doctor Brennan have been acting a bit off today. Apparently, last night Booth and Brennan sort of got into an awkward situation." Hodgins leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs. "Doctor Brennan sort of realized what we have all known for years now, and she told Booth. He pretty much turned her down for Hannah, and we all know that is the wrong thing. Now don't tell anyone, or you will be in great pain."

Fisher finally recovered from his intense listening. "well, that is a complicated situation. What should I do if it affects my work?"

"it probably won't, fisher. If you know Doctor Brennan as well as I do, she can compartmentalize extremely well."

Fisher heaved himself up from his stool. "well, thankyou for telling me Doctor Hodgins; it was extremely generous of you. I should be working on the proper analysis of the other bones now, so I will get to work."

"it's alright fisher, you know you can talk to me anytime" Hodgins smiled at the intern and went back to his microscope, a way of bidding goodbye to his acquaintance.

**I love reviews, reviews are love. I am writing the next chapter right now, so hopefully it will be up tonight as well, that is if I get enough reviews ;)**

**Thanks for reading!**

**- Rach **


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello! Just want to say thank you so much to Southunlady, I am so appreciative of your support. You are the only person who has been bothering to Review every chapter and it makes me so grateful. I just want to ask the people who have the time to give me an alert have the time to review? I like alerts, but I really love reviews! I don't feel like writing when I don't know what all of you think. Please review!**

**On a better note, I have a new laptop! I will be able to write at school too, which is great **

Chapter 5:

"In conclusion, the cause of death seems to be a series of deep stabs to the ribs, including the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ribs. They penetrated the heart and lungs, causing a relatively fast death. Completing the autopsy of John Doe number 11357, this is Doctor Camille Saroyan." Cam finished the autopsy and switched off her voice recorder.

At that moment Colin Fisher walked in.

"Afternoon Doctor Saroyan, what are you up to this afternoon?" Fisher was trying to be polite and happy, which was slightly difficult for him (as usual).

"I'm alright thanks", she thought of asking him the same question, but he might have started to ramble on about some depressing monstrosity of the day. She smiled anyway, "I have just completed another autopsy, and I have some tox-screen results of this morning's body.

"I found a high composition of the chemicals that are consistent with high levels of medication. Not ingested exactly because it wasn't in the stomach or liver, but absorbed. Like the victim spent a lot of time around a high composition of chemicals and radiation. I'm thinking maybe a chemist or a doctor? Those are on my list of possible occupations."

"Or a scientist?" Fisher suggested.

"Yes, possibly. But I am quite concerned about this high level of radiation. The average level for a person is 2.4 millisieverts, but 1 or 2 Sieverts of radiation can kill a human in a matter of weeks. 300 Sieverts would kill a human being very rapidly, within a couple of hours. What I found on the body overall was about 10 of these, and that would be highly dangerous. He would be lucky to have lived more than a week."

"Wow, well that could have been something to do with cause of death. You should record that in the case file."

"Done. And I believe Doctor Brennan should be informed of this finding, could you tell her?"

"No." Fisher stated like it was obvious he wasn't going to be around Doctor Brennan while he knew what Hodgins told him. "Have you found anything else?"

"Uh, okay then. I'll give her a call later." Cam found it best to let him have his way. "Actually, I have pulled a print off the victim. I emailed it to Angela so she is running through a criminal database. It should take a few hours to finish scanning."

"Alright, well that could be a good thing to keep developing the case. Um, I will be in the bone room if you wanted to find me, but don't exactly tell Doctor Brennan that detail. No, you can tell her I don't mind. Why would I be worried about Doctor Brennan?"

Cam wondered what the mattered was with Fisher, he was acting weird. She voiced her thoughts. "What's the matter, Mister Fisher?"

Fisher kept mumbling as he backed out of the autopsy room. "Well I don't really care about what happened with her and Agent Booth that is not business. I should only worry about business; I only know about business. Hodgins didn't tell me anything. Sorry, I have work to go, um, I have work to do, with bones."

Cam was halfway to laughing. "Goodbye, Fisher. Have a nice day."

**So, very short (sorry!) and just some case stuff, but it is all important. Hope you liked it. :D**

**Please review, you might have a virtual high five coming your way ;) Xxxx!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello! I'm back! Just want to give big, fat, happy thanks to Diko, EverythingEventually, guendalyn3 and Southunlady. I like reviews :3 hoping to get a few more though! **

**Disclaimer: Maybe, just maybe, you could be getting the slightest inkling that I have some association with the show by now, since I haven't made one of these yet. I shall confirm thee suspicions, and yes, "I am Hart Hanson the creator and writer of Bones"… Dammit, wrong line. xD I don't really own anything to do with Bones but the DVD's, this laptop and my brain!**

Chapter 6:

Angela chewed her thumbnail as she pondered over the results that had surfaced on her computer. She had run the victim's fingerprint through the criminal database, and came up with nothing. But Cam had found some chemicals on the body and they were the ones found in medications like clozapine and benzodiazepine, and according to her they are used in anti-psychotic treatment.

So she finished the search on just criminals and expanded it to people associated with mental hospitals, it seemed logical.

Angela leant back and closed her eyes. She dreamt of the art galleries in France, where she believed that she truly belonged. Angela wasn't cut out for this sort of thing; she had never really loved murder and mayhem. But she loved her best friend and she loved her husband and the father of her unborn child, so she would never want to work with anyone else.

While she was waiting for the results she decided to draw. She got out her sketch pad and a pencil, rested them on her huge stomach and looked around for inspiration.

Half an hour later she had the outlines of a beautiful Paris scene which she had sketched. The computer hadn't had any results still. Angela found sketching quite relaxing.

Then her phone rang.

"Angela Montenegro." She answered, and it was Cam.

"Angela, I was wondering if you got any results. I know I said that you would email me, but," Cam paused momentarily to let out a little sigh, "Fisher has been coming back in here all day. I try to make him help Doctor Brennan but he won't. Maybe he's just being weird."

Angela did think that was a little odd, well, so was Fisher. She smiled and shook her head.

"I am sure he is lonely Cam. You want some advice? Just go with it. We don't want him getting all depressed now, do we?" She joked.

"Yeah, I guess so. It's hard to work with someone literally hovering over you. But he has been helping me, so hey, this conversation never happened. Have you got any results yet?"

Angela explained her search, and how she expanded it to people associated and in the care of mental hospitals. Cam congratulated her on her good use of intellect and it was only then that Angela looked up again to see her computer had a result.

"Cam, I've got something. The victim's print. I haven't run the other print you found on the body yet because I thought identifying the victim was a bit more of a priority. So, here it is. Our vic is Doctor Mark Jameson from the DC mental ward; 47, No wife or kids, his mother lives near Michigan. The mother is also listed as the emergency contact."

The name, Doctor Jameson, sounded a little familiar to Angela. But she didn't let that bother her.

"I am starting the search for the second print now." Angela said and hung up.

Angela sat back in her desk chair and sighed. Poor Cam, she had no idea how in the world she herself would direct a whole division of the lab. Even for just one day, it would make her crazy.

Then her thoughts drifted to why Fisher would be acting weird, well he was weird. But he was always eager to consult Brennan. She wondered why he would act like that, unless he was hiding something. So Angela decided to go visit Hodgins, making a detour to inconspicuously interrogate Fisher.

She found Fisher in the bone room, inspecting some kind of bone, probably from the leg, Angela thought.

"Hey Fisher, what are you up to?" She casually asked.

The intern caught sight of Angela and removed his earphones.

"Oh, nothing Angela; I am Just trying to discover what happened to the victim, I have no idea what I will find in the Femur, but as-" he cleared his throat and shifted his weight, "Doctor Brennan says, 'don't jump to conclusions until all the evidence is in'. In that case, I have to find every piece of evidence, but I can't find anything else because I suck." Fisher replied in a miserable tone.

"Well maybe you can't find anything else because there is nothing to find. Do you really think Brennan accepts interns to work here that suck? Or are they, meaning you as well, very good at what you do?"

Fisher shrugged his shoulders, but didn't cheer up noticeably. "Well, I guess not." Then he added in a smaller tone,

"Do you think Agent Booth's girlfriend sucks less than Doctor Brennan? I mean, no one is doing anything about that." He must have thought Angela couldn't hear him, because he already had his earphones back in.

That was enough for her. Fisher definitely knew what was going on, and he wasn't really one for gossip so he must have learnt from someone he was around quite a bit today that also knew about her secret. And she was pretty she knew who that was.

She entered Hodgin's office, walked past his endless shelves of bugs, soil and slime and over to his desk. It was empty. He was the only other person who she had told about what she knew, and Angela was pretty sure he was doing an experiment or something with Fisher that afternoon.

Angela stalked off, as well as she could, in pursuit of her husband. She poked her head into Cam's office, he wasn't in there. She asked anyway,

"Hey, have you seen Hodgins?"

Cam looked up from her work, and shook her head. Angela spun around and surprise, surprise, Fisher was heading back into Cam's office.

Angela offered a smile and asked the same question to Fisher as she asked Cam. His reply was the same as well. Then she spied Hodgins over on the platform, using the computer up there. She made her way over to her husband.

Hodgins turned around when he heard her heels approach him.

"Hey, Angie" He said with a big goofy smile in his face.

Angela bent towards him and gave him a quick but sweet peck on the lips. She took a chair and sat down in front of him.

"Hodgie, listen. I've got to talk to you."

He nodded and took her hands in his. Angela took that as an acceptance to go on,

"Well, I was talking to Cam earlier. She said that it's really bugging her to have Fisher hovering around her for the past few hours, she wanted him to help Brennan but he wouldn't. And that got me thinking, he usually enjoys helping Bren out, and a reason why he might not want to help her is because he could be avoiding her. People avoid the ones that they know things about them in which they shouldn't, do you see where I'm going with this?"

Hodgins looked a little confused, but he was mostly dramatizing the confusion because he didn't want Angela finding out that he slipped their secret to the intern. She already knew, so what the hell, he thought.

"I'm sorry Ange, you know I love you but I was trying so hard to keep it in, and Fisher sort of just guessed that I was holding something back."

Angela didn't know whether to be pitiful or mad. She decided to make Hodgins know that she wasn't happy that he couldn't keep the secret, but she couldn't be mad at him.

"You know you shouldn't have told him right?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry again." He apologized.

"I am worried though; will Fisher be able to keep it a secret? I mean, Brennan trusted me with this. I don't want anyone else knowing okay?"

"So are you mad?" Hodgins questioned.

"A little, but I can't get angry with you." She smiled. "But just be more careful next time please, I really don't want to fight with you."

"Right, well sadly I have work to do. There are a lot of particulates on the body to be analyzed." Hodgins kissed Angela's forehead before turning back to his computer.

Angela had to go to as well, nature was calling and she had to pee again. She shuffled off to the bathroom.

**OMG just watched the seventeenth episode xD finally, what a long wait again! It was all 'round awesome. :) **

**I will send little dancing Brennan and Booths into your dreams tonight if you review! Xoxoxo! **

**-rach :) **


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello :) Thanks to SouthunLady once again. You give great advice and I'm sure that your wish will be granted soon ;) I want that bitch gone too.**

**But I was so happy that Sweets didn't die I had to write a chapter about him. Even though I cried my heart out for the poor *insert other person's name here in case of spoilers*… **

**I apologize about the wait again, I have re-written this way too many times and I decided to just post it. I am a perfectionist sometimes, and I hate not getting things right.**

**I'm trying to get some chapters done on my other sadly neglected story 'Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder' which I am co-writing with liv.**

**HAPPY BIRHTDAY to Jessica! :)**

Chapter 7:

Sweets checked his watch again. It was twenty minutes since he had arrived, and a good 40 minutes since he had received a call to meet him at the mental hospital. And Booth was never late. Today must have been an exception to that rule.

He was waiting right next to a small bunch of workers in the parking lot; he guessed they were janitors on their lunch break. Each of the scrawny middle aged men were taking long pulls of their cigarettes, and then puffing out a twisting, winding string of smoke through the air like they loved it. Every minute or so they would drop the butt, squish it with their shoe and then reach into their pocket for yet another smoke.

He watched them with curiosity out of the corner of his eye, trying to recognize patterns in their behavior.

The tallest one seemed to be the one holding the most power in their small clique. He would usually go first, either with a puff or grabbing a new butt, and if someone started to take action before him they received disapproving looks from the others and especially the man who had the power to make the first move.

After the taller one took action, they each followed suit. The bald one with sunglasses went next, then the one with the beard, then the short younger one. He looked to be timid, as if he didn't fit in with his companions.

Sweets could see their behavior and feelings towards each other like reading a book, and he hadn't ever met them.

He coughed once again and he tried to inconspicuously duck his face into his collar away from the smoky air, hiding half his face in his coat but trying not to look too much like he was an escaped patient.

Sweets then tried calling Booth again, but there was suddenly no need as his car was finally emerging into the parking lot and lurching to a stop not far away from him.

He stared at the approaching FBI agent, scrutinizing the reasons behind his lateness, he looked fine. He was still walking, Sweets couldn't figure out why he was late.

And then he noticed; Agent Booth hadn't paused to let a passenger out, or open the door for Doctor Brennan. He knew damn well why Booth normally did that for her, but funnily enough Booth himself apparently didn't. But where was Doctor Brennan?

"Hey Sweets, how's things? You know, since yesterday?" Booth asked him as he came to stand with the shrink and patted him on the back, quite roughly in fact.

Sweets gave a nervous chuckle,

"Good, Good. How have you been?"

"Umm, yeah, alright I guess. We better get going, don't want to be late eh?"

Sweets was about to open his mouth to explain that they were already late but Booth was about ten yards away from him already so he ran to catch up and didn't comment on the matter.

They were walking through the hospital corridors a few minutes later, Sweets decided to inquire why Doctor Brennan was absent.

"Agent Booth, I can't help but notice, where is Doctor Brennan today? Is she busy?" he casually asked.

"Um, Bones is busy with some old dead guy's remains, they have an exhibit in the museum opening soon and she was needed. I said it was okay, I would bring you. She might accidentally insult the therapists or something anyway." Booth started to chuckle with the sarcasm of the last sentence.

Sweets thought it was odd that she chose supervising an exhibit over assisting Agent Booth; she almost always went out in the field. She had interns to stay at the lab for a reason.

"Are you sure? She doesn't normally take much interest in the museum exhibits."

Booth grabbed his suit collar and tugged him aside into a small but open broom closet. The next thing Sweets knew he was being shoved up against a wall with shock and terror highly evident in his expression.

"There is NOTHING wrong with Bones! She is fine." Booth spat, he released him quickly and slumped up against the opposite wall.

"And it's not your business anyway." He muttered, looking at his shoes. Sweets nodded his head.

"Look, man... I'm sorry… I just hope she's fine. Bones has been… avoiding me lately."

Sweets regained his voice,

"Oh… how do you feel about that?"

Sweets thought Booth would have shoved him again; he forgot how much Booth hated that question. His expression suddenly turned from troubled to angry again, but he composed himself quickly.

The psychologist needed to think of a response, and quick.

"Umm, I didn't mean that… I'm sorry, it's a reflex question. But do you have an idea why she might be trying to avoid you? I… I don't mean to pry, but it would be helpful if you voiced you opinions on the subject."

Booth started to think as he stared at the floor, probably contemplating if he should tell him what he knew. Sweets could see that Booth knew why he was here alone today, and he was hiding it.

"You can tell me, I promise. Whatever is said in this… cupboard, never ever leaves here."

Silence engulfed them for an immeasurable moment. Silence that was of Booth unsure what to say, and Sweets hoping to hell that Booth would say something.

Finally, Booth's eyes moved up to meet Sweets' face. He started to talk.

"Well, she would probably be avoiding me because of something… that happened, the other night. You probably know how Bones solved the case, but we promised not to tell anyone of what happened after, after I saved her life and drove her home." He paused, with a pained expression on his face.

"She said something about no regrets and she wanted to... you know, give _us _a go… I turned her down for Hannah. I feel horrible about it, but I think she hates me now."

Sweets briefly remembered a scene out of his subconscious, of a night almost a year ago, in which that afternoon the partners had entered his office to tell him some errors in his book. He remembered seeing a glance of the two arguing on the Hoover steps. The way their faces looked from a distance… and the way he forcefully was pushed away from kissing her. He had never asked them about it because it would have broken their level of trust if he knew things, and he had pretty much forgot about it. He thought it was a dream because he never would have thought it really happened. Now he had reason to believe it did.

Booth drew in a breath, a look on his face like he had suddenly realized he sounded ridiculous and it angered him. His face went stone cold.

"But none of it matters. I made a choice, it may feel wrong, but I have to live with it."

And with that Booth stormed out of the broom cupboard and along the hallway, ignoring the strange looks of nearby doctors and therapists. Sweets, who finally regained his consciousness, followed suit.

They found the ward, and showed the receptionist at the desk their IDs before being shown to the head doctor who was the boss of the victim.

He looked up from sliding a needle into a patient's arm briefly and then finished the procedure. Then he was ushered out of the room by Booth to talk, the look on Booth's face made him obey immediately.

"Special Agent Seeley Booth, FBI. This is Doctor Sweets." They all exchanged brief handshakes.

"Doctor Mason Reeves, how can I help you?"

"Well, we wanted to ask you a few questions about an employee of yours in this ward, Doctor Mark Jameson?"

Reeves nodded, recognizing the name as one of his frequent psychologists.

"Do you know anyone who might have wanted to hurt Mark?"

Reeves' expression turned to shock. "What's happened?"

"Sorry to tell you this, but we have found some remains which we have positively identified as Mark Jameson."

The doctor tried to recompose his expression; obviously he had no idea that his employee was dead.

"Um, no… I don't. Everyone loved Mark here, he was a great guy. I can't say I knew him that well; he was a man who loved his work. He actually bothered to establish friendships, give up his time for the patients. He was a favorite doctor."

"Do you know of anyone who he was friendly with particularly well? Other doctors, patients…" Sweets piped in.

"Well, he did love being especially courteous to a few of the young interns. They were friendly to him, but didn't pay him all that much attention. Uh, his patients were some of his good friends, as far as I know he didn't really have a life outside of work. He visited his patients frequently, used his ID card to get around the visiting hours."

"Can you remember anyone in particular out of his frequent patients that he was good friend with? Maybe you heard a rumor, anything?"

"I don't know much, you would need legal representation and a warrant to be allowed into the secure cells where most of his patients are, but I have heard… whispers. Things like… that he was trying to help some patients whom he believed innocent to get out. As I said, I'm not completely sure, I don't pay much attention to office gossip."

Booth decided he had learned enough, and he had to go check on Bones to make sure she was okay; he hadn't seen her that day.

"Thank you very much, Mr. Reeves. We'll keep in contact if we need anything else."

**I would love it if you guys could please press the button at the bottom. You know the one that says review? It makes the author happy :)**

**I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU THINK OF THIS OR EVEN IF YOU ARE READING WHEN YOU DON'T REVIEW.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I AM SO EXCITED FOR THE FINALE! Omg it is going to be amazing. :D I have information from a friend who was allowed to stay home from school today due to a "sprained ankle" to get her virtual hands on as many spoilers as possible, and she got to watch the finale a day early! For some reason, Canada got the finale aired a day early but almost all uploads to the internet were stopped. ALMOST. Thank you, illegal downloading and Jessica. ;)**

**Unfortunately, my mum isn't that cool so I was stuck in class all day. :( **

**I have to say, sorry about the little stuff up I made. In chapter two, there was a scene where I incorrectly gave the name and occupation when I didn't know I wasn't supposed to. If you have already read it, could you please pretend that bit doesn't exist? Haha, it's fixed anyway. **

**Chapter 8… **

[First part is set before chapter 7, or early that morning…]

Booth pounded angrily on the bedroom door once again.

"Hannah, let me in, please! Can we just talk?"

"NO!" She cried out.

He wasn't giving up. He could hear the movement in the room, and he had to get in there. But finally he had had enough of the pounding on the door and kicked it in.

The sight of his bedroom shocked him to his bones. There was a mess all over his floor, clothes, shoes, and all the drawers had been taken out of their cupboards and the clothing taken out, his separated from hers. The bed was a mess, and bustling around the room, quickly picking up all the women's clothes, was Hannah.

His so-called girlfriend, but it didn't feel like it all that much lately with how much they were fighting over petty things.

She had almost everything stuffed in a large duffel bag, the same one in which she took when she moved in. Eventually, everything was packed away and her bags looked ready to leave. But Booth hadn't known that for the past half-hour while he was cooking breakfast, she was collecting strewn items and claiming those that belonged to her.

He should have seen this coming a long time ago.

Tears pricked his eyed as he realised she was really moving out, once Hannah was sure about something she never went back.

"I have work lined up in Portugal, they need reporters over there. I'm not getting much done stuck here! I need to travel, that's just who I am." She attempted to explain.

He understood that it was better for her career, and probably better for the both of them. He knew they both weren't feeling the relationship 'spark' anymore, it had diminished.

As she passed him, he explained his thoughts, he knew it was okay for her to go, and he wished Hannah well.

"I don't think it's necessary for me to come back here again, you don't need me. You'll be fine Seeley."

She gave him a small smile and a quick hug before walking out of his life forever.

**BONES**BONES**BONES**BONES**BONES**

Doctor Brennan entered Cam's office in search of results. She had discovered that it was harder for people to find her if she was moving around, visiting people instead of calling them from the one place.

"Hello Cam, anything new on the case?" Bones inquired.

Cam looked startled to find Doctor Brennan actually in her office, as she usually found phone calls more convenient.

"Um not really, we still have the same facts as before." Cam brought up a window on her computer that showed the case report filled in with all the evidence so far.

Brennan was leaning over Cam's shoulder.

"Well, that's good. Let me know immediately if you find anything else."

"Of course I will, Doctor Brennan." Cam smiled.

Bones cleared her throat,

"I notice there is no suspect profile from Sweets on there. Any idea where he might be? It should be completed by now. Oh, and I need to have a conversation with him."

"About what?"

"Oh, nothing. Mainly the profiling, but I haven't seen him in a bit and it is important for frequent interaction in a successful working relationship."

Cam wondered how Brennan even had successful working relationships when she talked in that tone. She gave a chuckle and a shake of her head.

Just then, funnily enough, Sweets walked through the door.

"Speak of the devil…" Cam muttered, she thought it lucky that no one heard the little exclamation.

Sweets smiled at the women and walked up to the desk.

"How are you today?" he politely asked them both.

Brennan was the one to reply first.

"Well, I was wondering where you were just then actually. You have failed to complete the suspect profile for the Jameson case. Why?"

"Oh, I apologise Doctor Brennan, I was pretty busy today though. I went with Booth to the victim's workplace, you know, you were supposed to come… but you didn't. How did the exhibition go by the way?"

"What exhibition?"

Sweets exhaled nervously.

"You seem to be telling the truth. Oh, Agent Booth said that you were working on an exhibit today and you were unable to help with the case today."

Cam piped in,

"Sweets, we haven't been working on any exhibits today. It's been casework," then her inner cop kicked in, "did Booth ask you to go with him? I hate to say it, but it is possible he is lying."

"But why would he want to do that?" Brennan questioned.

"He did seem quite agitated today; maybe he was just under stress or something. I'm sure you can help with the next interview." Sweets commented. And with that, the shrink turned around to leave.

Before he exited, Cam called,

"So you can email me that profile today please?"

Sweets agreed and left to go help out someone else. Brennan turned to Cam.

"Why do you think Booth failed to mention that to me? We're partners! Doesn't he appreciate the anthropological view in field work aspects?"

Brennan sat down in the chair in front of Cam's desk.

"I'm sure he might have forgotten. He is getting quite daft these days." Cam remained cynical.

"That… that worries me, Cam. I mean, he is my partner! He should have asked me, he always asks!"

Cam thought that what had happened between the partners was probably all over the lab by now, heck it didn't matter if she just asked her about it.

"Do you think… um, do you think that maybe it has something to do with the tension? Maybe it was hard on him to live with what happened the other night, he has a big heart… and it isn't open to everyone. You're lucky."

With that, Brennan had a shocked expression.

"Who told you about anything that happened recently between us? That is no one else's business!"

"Well, I don't necessarily want to point fingers here, but I did find out from Fisher. Please don't tell him you know that we know!" Cam was startled; she didn't know that Brennan didn't know that they knew!

"Well, how did Fisher find this out? Did someone else tell him?"

"I don't want to be digging myself a hole here. I will say that I found out from him and he found out from… Hodgins. You can't go and interrogate anyone about this; it's supposed to be a secret!"

Brennan had had enough, this was her secret! And she had only told her secret to one other friend…

She stalked off in pursuit of Angela's office.

Cam sunk guiltily in her chair, hoping to hell that this would stay quiet.

Bones entered the office, and Angela was programming the angletron, so she closed the door and went to stand right in front of her.

"Angela, can you please explain why do Cam, Fisher and Hodgins know about what I told you? It was something personal, something so personal I didn't want anyone to know other than you. You're supposed to be someone I trust! How can I trust you if you tell Hodgins everything?"

Angela was completely dumbfounded the whole time Brennan was talking. She was speechless, how did everyone find out?

"Sweetie, please." She attempted.

"NO, Angela. I don't think I can trust you. It's not rational. How can you make up for this? You're not trustworthy. Maybe you're not the BBF I thought you were!" Bones was fighting tears.

Angela's hormones took over.

"Just listen to me just this once, god! You can trust me, I love you like a fucking sister. If you like that we are BFFs, that good. I just can't help your problems! They're not mine to sort out! But you don't know what's going on! We're all worried about you here, Booth too."

Brennan was matching Angela's volume and then escalating higher.

"You don't understand! Worry doesn't mean you can tell secrets! I honestly just can't trust you right now, I have to get home."

Brennan walked out rapidly, straight to the parking lot and jumped in her car. She collapsed in a heap of tears at the steering wheel, still managing to get herself to her apartment.

**So… as I said in the first AN, my friend knows spoilers. And we just had a very crazy talk. If I had a penny for every time I asked her to pinch me cos it's a dream… **

**So yeah, PM me if you want to know things! E.g. has the game changed? Has Emily's pregnancy helped along the b squared relationship? What happened that night in that bed? ;) I shouldn't tell you if the answers are yes, or no, just yet probably… but ask if you do want to know and I will tell. DAMN THIS IS GOOD! XD**

**Care to drop a review? Xoxoxo!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, how's everyone? :) I'm so smiley, not even getting NO reviews can make me mad, but, um, no one reviewed? Loneliness :( **

**But yayy! Finally, maybe not the way everyone wanted it to be, but YEAH it's the way it should be now. Next season they will be in a full blown relationship, they kept out all the lovey-dovey stuff, but I'm pretty sure they might give us some next season, with a baby and over dead bodies :) Ahhhhhh, it's awesome. **

**Thanks for a favorite story by acullen21, it made me want to write. Except I couldn't. :( been very pissed off lately (I can't write when I'm mad or pissed off so…) a certain idiotic individual thought it was funny to throw a brick at the head of my very treasured baby class cow. So instead of writing lately, I've been worrying about Cooper the cow. I have to teach him to eat in my lunchtimes because the poor thing has brain damage :'( **

**Thanks for the reviews on last chapter though, big virtual hugs to Diko, jfbonesgirl, Jdragonfire29 and SouthunLady. Much appreciated :) **

Chapter 9:

Booth entered the lab. He headed straight to Cam's office.

She had called him to say that there were some prints found on the body. Instead of using his phone, he hoped to run into Bones. He was worried that she hadn't seen him all day and he just wanted to know what she was up to. He still worried about her.

When he finally reached the office he poked his head in the door first.

"Hey Cam, anything stinking with disgust or can I come in?"

Cam chuckled, "Is that an insult?"

Booth shook his head jokingly, "You know I didn't mean it, and you know you job in here is a bit gross sometimes, it's okay. How are things going?"

It was then Booth looked around to find Angela, Hodgins and Fisher in the room. Booth was befuddled.

"What's going on…?" he immediately became cautious and a bit worried.

Angela looked distraught. Hodgins a bit mad. Fisher looked confused. Cam, who was next to him, was solemn.

Then Cam started to speak,

"I think we have found something… but I hope to god we are wrong."

Angela added,

"Some evidence has surfaced. We think it could mean something, but you say not to jump to conclusions."

"Well tell me! You gotta keep me in the loop, guys." Booth leant on the edge of the desk.

Hodgins started to reveal,

"Well, firstly, the same knife marks have been found on the body by Fisher and Cam as when Zack apparently killed that bastard lobbyist. Angela found a hair and fingerprints on the body, and they match one and only Dr. Zack Addy," he looked at the women, "I'm sorry guys, but it is true, although, it could be something like the Rampart Scandal in the 90's how there was as many as 70 corrupt cops from the C.R.A.S.H. department but only 58 were convicted of the offenses of unprovoked shootings and beatings, planting wrongful evidence, framing suspects, stealing and dealing narcotics, bank robbery, perjury, and they covered up all the evidence of what they did. If that is possible, someone could definitely be framing Zack. Someone could be framing criminals to cover their ass."

Everyone's shock grew on their faces as Hodgins stated what could be true. No one had any idea what was going on.

"Well, where do we start?" Angela wondered.

No one spoke. But after a bit of thought they all voiced their ideas, one by one.

Cam thought they should keep looking for evidence; see if anything would surface that could help them.

Hodgins felt like they should explore all options, wondering if they could cross the Jameson case with any other unsolved ones. He also suggested they put Zack under protection after he was obviously going to be questioned.

Fisher thought he should do whatever everyone else wanted, since there was nothing he desired because he wasn't in a good mood that day.

Angela thought they shouldn't tell Zack that they found his fingerprints on a body, if the murder was his fault and he put the prints there himself or not, it might scare him and cause him stress. She suggested they keep track of everything that they find that would be consistent with Zack but other than that they should treat it like a normal case.

Booth knew what he wanted to do, inform his partner. Where was she? Booth remembered it was the secondary reason for his visit to the lab, which left him wondering where Bones was. When he asked, Cam looked at Angela.

"Last time I saw Doctor Brennan, she was heading to Angela's office." Then Booth saw an odd expression fleetingly show on Cam's face. "To… get help with the case. I'm not sure what though. What did you two talk about Angela?"

Angela lowered her head, realizing that she wasn't supposed to know about the real subject of her and her best friend's conversation/argument, and she was meant to be oblivious to the fact that Brennan and Booth had their own argument. But she was stumped. All creative excuses had vacated her mind.

"Well, we had a bit of an argument. It got out of hand. She left after and I haven't seen her at the lab since…" she glanced at her watch, "about an hour ago. I thought she went to her office." Angela was a bit hesitant. If Booth caught on and questioned the cause to the argument then she wasn't sure what she should say. She stared at what she could see left of her feet.

Everyone had mixed expressions of shock, dismay and worry etched on their faces. Hodgins spoke next,

"Hey, I'm sure that she is in her office. She wouldn't run off or do anything rash, it's not rational"

"No, she's not in her office. I tried to find her earlier, but I thought she could just have skipped off elsewhere on an errand."

"What were you arguing about?" Booth asked Angela, and she was shocked and didn't want to answer. She wasn't supposed to know.

"She thinks she can't trust me." Angela near whispered. She received looks to continue, and looks of sympathy.

"I… well, um, she… she told me about something important to her. It was a secret, and I…I told Hodgins. I didn't mean to… I just blurted it out by mistake. It was stupid and silly and I shouldn't have interfered. I'm sorry Booth."

Booth, feeling sorry for Angela who was distraught with worry and confusion, put his hands on her shoulders supportively.

"Ange, it's okay. Why are you apologizing to me?"

"It… It was your secret. Yours and Brennan's. I'm sorry." Angela still speaking barely above a whisper.

"What do you mean?"

"She told me everything about what happened the other night. How you saved her life… she didn't want regrets… and you chose Hannah." Booth was a bit disturbed that she was saying that in front of everyone. But Ange explained,

"It's okay. They know. They all know. Because I opened my stupid mouth."

"No, Ange. You did nothing wrong. I know now, I was the stupid one. I may have chosen Hannah back then, but I'm not choosing her now. She is out of my life."

Angela looked shocked at the latter of his explanation, and a little thrilled. But she couldn't help the sob that escaped her due to the stress mixed with pregnancy hormones.

"Hey, nothing about you is stupid." Hodgins said to Angela as he pulled her into his arms.

Booth waited for the phone to ring. When it did, it rang twice. Then the tone after someone has hung up. So she was there, she was okay, but she wasn't answering her phone. He thought where she would be if she had left the lab in a mess, and she wanted to go someplace safe. Usually, Bones was no typical girl. But he knew that times when she was down, like really down, she would act like a typical girl, it was wired into her brain. She had gone home.

"I know where she is." Booth announced. Straight away he was up and out of the office, on his way to reach Bones.

After a frustrating drive with too much traffic and persistent signs instructing him to stop, he had reached her apartment. He bounced up the stairs, too impatient to wait for the elevator. When he finally reached her floor, he lightly jogged down the corridor, finally reaching her door.

He knocked, twice. No answer.

He knew she was in there; it was his gut feeling, and a very strong one. His instincts were telling him to break down the door, but his brain told him not to frighten his partner.

He remembered the way to get in; it was quite a while ago that he taught her a little lesson on security.

"_How am I going to get in now, Booth?" Bones asked, distressed at the fact that her apartment door would not let her home. _

_Booth chuckled, _

"_Well it's not my fault that someone forgot to take their keys with them out to dinner. Should I have reminded you?" _

"_Ugh! Are you saying it's my fault? Because, anthropologically, the blame should lay with you. You were early picking me up for drinks, in which case I was not prepared, and with you alpha male traits you should have been paying attention to any mistakes I made or things I forgot. This does not follow the characteristics!" Brennan cried. _

_Booth had an idea. Ha fished the pocket knife from his rear pocket, and chose a nice spot of the carpet up against the wall and right next to the door. Looking around he quickly stabbed the floor, causing a tear in the lining of the carpet about 4 inches long. Bones gasped and Booth smirked. He then swapped his knife for his ring of keys, removed the one that was for Bones' door (she didn't know that he had gotten his own key cut in case of emergencies) and demonstrated simply slipping the key under the rip in the carpet. Then he stood up. _

"_See, Bones? You can keep my spare here, and if I interrupt you time to prepare for drinks again, you will never be locked out." Booth gave his partner a smart-arse smirk and used the hidden key to open the door. _

_Bones couldn't help but giggle at what her partner had done for her. _

"_How did you get a key to my apartment?" Curiosity. _

"_Well, there are just some things that it is not necessary for you to know." _

"_I do not concur. Goodnight, Booth." She reluctantly bid him farewell. _

"_Goodnight Bones."_

Booth chuckled at the memory, times had changed. He opened the door with that same key that nobody else knew where to find. A little bit nervous but every bit determined, he entered Bones' apartment.

**Really hope you liked it, would love to know your thoughts.**

**(It would be great if you guys could maybe say a prayer for Cooper the cow?, he's gorgeous)**

**-rach :) Xoxoxo**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thanks for the reviews and alerts, guys! It really makes my day :)**

**I must say, I am very annoyed at FF at the moment… they changed the review reply! Gahh, it used to be so easy, open the email on my phone, and be able to reply in 2 clicks… :/ it's retarded now. **

**Anywayy, I'm so happy today it has got me in a writing mood. Cooper, (the brain damaged cow) has learnt to eat corn plants! It's an improvement, and hopefully he will eat hay soon. But, unfortunately, he is coming down with a cough. **

**I'm in science at the moment, but it's not anthropology or forensics so… meh.**

**Thanks a lot to my reviewers last chapter, berniej and Everybodyelse027. You make me smile. **

**Thanks to Jess for reading through this. You're amazing ;)**

Chapter 10:

Brennan tried with shaking hands to steer her car into parking properly. Just scraping past the car in front of her, she managed to fit in her vehicle. Then she turned off the ignition, and froze.

Brennan looked around. She was just in front of her house. It was a path that was imprinted into her mind after hundreds of times travelling along there. For some reason, when she started the car, she just wanted to be in her house. In her bedroom. And in her bed, so she could cry the evening into night. She thought that from an anthropological point of view it was correct of her to return to the dwelling of her current residence. But she couldn't bring herself to open the door, get out of the car, and reach her apartment.

All the thinking was encouraging her to keep the sobs coming. As much as her mind wanted her whole self to calm down, her body resisted. She sat in the car, hunched over in the driver's seat, with her arms on the wheel and her face resting on her arms. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable position, and after what could have been hours, maybe minutes she wasn't sure, her joints were cramping up.

"Not good, Brennan." She told herself. "You need smarten up and get out of your car. This is ridiculous."

After she had stabilized her breathing, she shakily rose from her car. She slammed the door shut. Then Brennan trekked across the lawn, into the building and eventually reached her apartment. She reached into her pocket for her keys. They were gone. She thought back. The last time she used her keys would have been to drive her car.

Brennan felt like slapping herself. The car. She hadn't even remembered to get the damn keys out of the ignition! And to think she installed automatic locking in the car for convenience. She wasn't going to go all the way downstairs now. And even if she did, how was she going to get her keys out?

She leant against the door and slowly slid down to the ground, resting her head on her knees. She should have never let the case get to her. If that didn't happen, then she wouldn't have confessed to Booth about her regrets, she wouldn't have told Angela what happened, the whole team wouldn't have found out, and she wouldn't have been so heartbroken because she didn't know if she could trust her best friend. She and Angela had been through so much, they knew a lot about each other including their secrets. So why did Ange have to leak this one? It was probably one of her most important secrets, and it didn't help that everyone knew about what had happened. But why she was so broken up about this she didn't have a clue. Maybe because she felt like this would cause Booth to hate her, and he couldn't trust her. She hoped that this wouldn't interfere in their partnership.

But it was remembering the moments she had experienced with Booth that led her to remember the way into her apartment. As she shifted her weight, a small pain stabbed her rear. She was sitting on her spare key. She heaved herself up and decided it was time to smarten up and get up. She reached for the key and jabbed it into the lock repeatedly until it no longer resisted. She thrust the door open and ran inside not stopping until she reached her bedroom.

She was so exhausted all she wanted to do was rest, so she lay until the sobs subdued and let the tears lull her to sleep.

What was probably a few hours later, as the sun was setting deep into the sky outside her window; she listened intently to the banging that was coming from the direction of her door. She realized that the quick group of knocks resembling a pattern was a beckoning of her attention, not an ominous warning in her nightmare. Brennan's eyes fluttered open. After a moment she heard the pattern again, and she took action.

She quietly leant over and slid her top drawer of her bedside table open. She reached inside. Then, grabbing a bundle of socks, she unwrapped from them her gun that she got from the mall. She didn't think Booth would approve of her shooting someone, but at the moment she didn't care. As soon as she sat up she heard her door creak open and footsteps that were getting closer. She held her breath. In a split second she reached her door and looked down the hallway.

Someone was in her kitchen. They were standing next to the sink, probably choosing a knife. She thought of the plan he would have. Slip into her room when she was asleep. Stab her to death. Mutilate her remains.

It was obvious that he was a man due to the width of his ilia and scapulae, and quite largely built at that. He would easily be able to defeat her in a brawl if it wasn't for her skills. She could tell nothing else about the appearance of the man, his coat was huge and he was wearing a scarf and a hat as well. The way he stood was a bit like Booth, but this man would have to have been stalking her to know that she was home and asleep at this time of day. Normally she was at the lab. She should have noticed someone around.

He shifted his weight, and started to pull back from the bench. It had to be now. He would see her if she didn't get out of there. Or make a move. At that instant her fight or flight instinct was switched to fight. In another flash she ran up to him, and just as the man turned around, she hit him fair and square on the temporal bone. That should knock him out. But not kill him, no need to irritate Booth by murdering someone.

Then she felt a burning all over her skin. Everything was on fire. She looked around. Her kettle was lying on the ground, a huge crack up the side and the lid had broken off. A smashed coffee mug was laying on the ground. Another one was just teetering off the edge of her bench.

Then she looked down. She felt sick with horror. Booth was lying beneath her half unconscious, sputtering something inaudible.

She couldn't bear the burning on her skin any longer. She sprinted to her bathroom to cool off in a shower.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey there, how are all the Aussies out there enjoying the long weekend? :) I'm heading home from my cousin's engagement party. I'm tired. High on coffee and ginger beer. And having loads of fun. I'm in the mood to write :P**

**Thanks hugely to EverythingEventually027 and nertooold54. The reviews are awesome. Keep letting me know how I'm doing guys! ;D**

**By the way… my birthday is this Tuesday! I think by now that's tomorrow so… I might be a bit busy hiding from everyone so expect a chapter in a few days. **

The shock was still settling deep in Brennan's bones. She was pretty sure she just gave her partner whom she loved a huge whack to the head. Did she?

She had to drag herself out of her bathroom and out of the fear that had her frozen. She didn't know why she was afraid. It was probably the lasting adrenaline or the fact that she was lost for what to do next. What would she do now? Did she go out there and help her partner up off the floor, then escort him out of her apartment? Or should she let him stay? Should she be a coward and lock herself in her own bathroom, until he got up and left?

No. Doctor Brennan knew she was not a coward. She had done so many things that were considered courageous, usually with Booth by her side or just to help Booth. But this would help Booth.

She had to help the man in her kitchen, but would she let him stay? What would be the extent of her "helping him"? She contemplated that.

Brennan let the lukewarm water run over her body. If only she could relax. But the burning sensation on her skin had escaped her. She shivered. Then turned off the taps and quickly towel dried her still clothed body. She cautiously exited the bathroom.

Her wet feet plopped down the small hallway. She froze and drew in a sharp breath. Her ears attuned to the sound once again. A groan. And it was coming from her kitchen floor. She heard it once more after some deep, raspy breaths.

"Bones?"

He was calling for her! She wasn't sure if he was mad at her or seeking help. Or a combination of both.

But she couldn't stop the overwhelming sensation that she had to go help him. She had done this to him. She had hurt him!

Brennan crouched down beside her partner and checked his breathing. It was there, she didn't imagine the groaning. And she knew that it was real. He huffed and his eyes fluttered open.

"Hey, Booth. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I apologize for my foolishness and lack of proper judgment." Brennan lent down as best she could to hug him. But it was not easily possible. Booth tried to get himself up, but he was disoriented and in shock.

"Wha… what am I doing on your floor Bones!" he started to panic. Then his body slumped again and he looked confused. "I'm… on your floor? I have… um, yes… I think I have a headache…"

It looked like her partner had sustained concussion. He couldn't stay lying down; he would be in danger of falling asleep. Bones couldn't let that happen.

"Here, let me help you. Come to the couch with me, hey? You'll be fine."

It took all of Bones' strength to get him sitting up. She needed to get frozen peas for his head.

When she returned from the freezer Booth was halfway to lying down.

Brennan sat on the couch next to him and shoved with all her might to get him sitting up next to her.

Booth tried to speak. "Bones… my Bones… do you think… I think… I think I'm getting… um, thirsty?" The peas swayed as he was tiring.

Brennan. "Sure. Do you want me to keep making that coffee? Sorry I interrupted you. You frightened me."

Booth nodded. Brennan rose and in record time she was picking up the kettle - it was O.K. after all; the crack had not actually gone right through – and resumed making the coffee. She returned with two hot beverages and sat down, handing one of them to her partner.

"You're sure that it's okay? I'm sorry Booth, I should have contemplated the fact that you would come for me. I hope you didn't hit the injured are of you parietal, another brain tumor would not be very good for you again. Are you in any pain?" Brennan was concerned, and she had to admit she had no idea what to do.

"Hey Bones I'm alright. It's okay, no need to be sorry, I shouldn't have scared you. All this clothing I'm wearing helped to soften the fall, my back doesn't hurt that much." Booth was only concerned for his partner, he would be alright. His back was aching like a bitch but he didn't want her to worry.

She gave him a half-hearted smile and sipped her coffee. "I still feel responsible Booth."

Booth knew that, in a way, she was responsible for hitting him over the head with her gun. She did in fact do it, but Booth really thought he was at fault. He scared her, and he remembered a lifetime ago when they were arguing in the Hoover building, he grabbed her and she struck him. But that wasn't her fault either. He thought that was what Bones does, she retaliates. She doesn't have a sanctuary in her life, a safe place with someone safe to go there with. She has told him that she believes that everyone special in her life leaves, but that's not her fault. _That's not even true. _Booth thought with a frown. His mind was going haywire, he sounded like a psychologist. But he knew that however silly his thoughts sounded, he wanted to be that person Bones could go to a safe place with. To be happy with. He wanted to be in her life forever.

"- so I really appreciate you coming in to see how I am Booth, but how is it you know I was home at this hour? And what brings you here?" Bones started to question him, casually drinking down her coffee.

Booth was unsure where this conversation was going. "Um, Bones. I… uh, I'd rather not talk about it. I think there are some things that don't include me, this is for you and Angela to sort out. I'm sorry."

Brennan's face was overcome with sadness and regret. "I'm sorry that you had to hear about that. Is that why you came to see me? To get my side of it? Because you're right. I don't want to talk about it."

"Bones, I'm sorry that you guys had an argument, but you can talk to me. Your opinion is your business, and I respect that. But I'm here for you."

Bones sat quietly for a bit, Booth watched her thinking. He thought she looked so beautiful, even now when she was in a wreck. He listened intently when she started to talk, to trust him. Her walls were down at the moment, she was not being as rational as usual. But his Bones is unpredictable.

He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder when her eyes glistened with tears, and one ran down her cheek. As she kept talking, he snaked his arm around her shoulders. She seemed comforted by his protecting presence. He tried to input appropriately, supporting his best friend and consoling her. To be truthful he hated it when Brennan and Angela had a fight, but he had to be there for his partner until he made up. He didn't want to take sides at all, but his partner needed his support.

When she was finished explaining what happened to her, and she had told him how sad she was that she felt like no one would ever be there for her forever that she could trust, Booth would have told her that he could be that person.

He just couldn't find the words.

Booth put his other arm around his partner and embraced her in a hug. It was then that Bones pulled away uncomfortably.

She turned away ashamed, Booth was confused.

"What's wrong Bones?"

Brennan let the tears fall.

"I don't think it's right for you to care about me, Booth, to help me. I don't think I deserve this, I don't deserve you. The way we used to be, how we used to be so happy, it's not that simple anymore. I don't think you should try and do this, I don't deserve to be in your arms."

Booths heart broke at her words. He placed a finger to her lips to silence her.

"Bones, you got to stop thinking stuff like that. There's no way, no way in the world, that you wouldn't deserve me. You are in many ways better than me, and don't try to argue with that. I know the real you, who you are behind these walls, and you amaze me. You're so intelligent and beautiful and so much more." He could swear he saw her cheeks darken in color. He was going to give her a hug, but she stopped his arms from enveloping her in joy.

"I just can't hug you, Booth. I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"It's just… I can't. It makes me feel like… well, look at it this way, you have someone. You have Hannah. And I don't have anyone. You're not mine to hold so I don't see why you should hold me."

"Are you serious? You think Hannah could have obstructed our guy hugs? Bones, some things are between us and that's okay."

"Could have…?"

"Um, yeah, that. She is no longer in my life. At all. It was a decision between us and she has gone back to Afghanistan. It didn't feel right with her anyway. I'm just here to support you."

"Oh. So you really broke up with her? Well, where does that leave you, how are you feeling? I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. In a way I feel… sort of… better. It's easier now."

The next part was so quiet that Booth could have missed it.

"Where does that leave us?"

Booth smiled. "Fate, Bones. Fate is what got us to where we are today and it is what lies ahead. You may not believe it, but I do. If you just want to sit here, that's okay."

**So there it is :) sorry it took so long, I started this chapter Saturday and it is now Wednesday. I've been pretty busy, but at least it's finished :D**

**WOOOOO! I'm the big 1-5! Hehe … p.s., if you didn't get that, it was my birthday yesterday. **

**-rach :) Xoxoxo**


	12. Chapter 12

**A.N: Hello, I feel really bad about leaving this story so late and letting it go on for so long. I meant to post this chapter around my birthday in June, because literally every day of my July has been full and busy. I have been on 4 holidays/trips/excursions/camps. And I am buggered. I took a day off school yesterday for some rest & write, but I ended up doing community service at the local primary school's sports carnival. I really should stop being so nice. Mixed with business and my random bursts of depression of whatever, I haven't felt up to writing in ages. But, really, this just needed to be posted I had it written, I haven't had time! You're probably sick of me by now I'll hand you to this chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Bones. And the trivia questions and answers are based on the trivia game from the site . ... It's really fun! Although you have to be a genius to know the answers, give it a go anyway! :D**

**Thanks to the reviewers of last chapter, Diko, nertooold54 and JWeasleyPotterGranger. Hope you guys like the chapter! Read on…**

Chapter 12:

Booth glanced at his cell and looked over at Brennan. His partner shifted her weight, continuing to fidget with a button on her trench coat. Her eyes rose up to meet his. They shared a smile and both stared over at their therapist.

Cam had called Sweets after Brennan had a fight with her best friend and left the lab angry and in a mess. She thought that maybe he could monitor her behavior to make sure she was okay and nothing was affecting her work relationships. Sweets thought that the partners were behaving quite well. They had hardly spoken, but that was a common occurrence because they never wanted to share much with him in their sessions. The three would share looks and expressions, smile and glare. It was like a silent conversation.

All was interrupted when the shrill ring coming from Booth's pocket made Booth jump a little. He fished around in his coat for the phone and answered.

"Booth… Yes, okay, Michigan." Booth got out his notepad and pen and started to jot some things down. "Lee Jameson. Got the address. Yep, we can do that. Bye."

Booth explained to his partner. "That was Charlie. We found the father in Michigan, we're gunna go deliver the news, question him, the usual. Come on Bones, let's go."

They both rose in unison and turned to leave the shrink's office. Sweets called after them.

"So, I'll see you later then. Booth, Dr. Brennan? You're gone aren't you? Okay. . . "

**BONES**BONES**BONES**BONES**BONES**

Three hours later, the crime fighting partners were well on their way to Michigan to talk to the family of the victim. It was a good eight hour trip, but they had to chase up quite a few leads while they were there so it was easier to just make the drive.

"I have trivia cards, if you wanted to do something?" Bones suggested. Since when did Bones want to do things on the road with him? They always just took turns to drive, having the occasional conversation. Booth was so taken by surprise he stammered,

"Umm, really? Are… do you h… are they…fun?"

Brennan made what she could of his confusing reply.

"Yes, I brought something … and, well, _I_ think they are fun." Booth's excitement fell. "It's a game that a group of us made in our freshman year; I found it in some old boxes at my father's house. He wasn't around then when I made them, but he volunteered to put some old things of mine in his basement so I have more space."

"Okay." Booth said, his excitement had plummeted but he was still curious. "What's the first question?"

"What is the process by which culture spreads across a geographical area?"

Booth glared at his partner, stoked.

"What are you? What is this? Is this seriously a game? How the heck am I supposed to know that?"

"It's not that hard! This is first year anthropology… oh, but you went to a public school, of course you didn't learn that. Sorry."

Booth chuckled. "So are you saying that I'm stupid because I didn't go to one of your cyborg private schools?"

"No! I am simply stating that we attended different high school and university courses." Brennan let out a sigh "Seeing that we entered different careers as well, it doesn't mean that you are essentially 'stupid'. I would never say that because you are smart in your own ways. You have a well-developed sense of reading human body language."

"Okay, enough." Booth closed his eyes and sighed. "Just go ahead."

"well, the answer was diffusion. It is a highly important way in which cultures change, Booth! Tools, meanings, and other inventions are borrowed from their neighbors and incorporated into existing culture. Cultural diffusion takes place all the time!" Brennan's explanation was responded by a crazy look from Booth.

"What? Alright, next question, this one happens to be a multiple choice! 25% chance of getting this one correct, Booth! ... According to anthropology, what notion does this Middle Eastern proverb illustrate? 'I against my brothers; my brothers and I against my cousins; my cousins, my brothers and I against the world.'"

When Brennan finished the question she provided him with four multiple choice answers; A. kinship, B. segmental opposition, C. double descent, D. lineage systems.

"What, um, I don't know! I'll say C... the answer is always the third time lucky, right?" Booth presented a hopeful but playfully lopsided grin.

Brennan playfully slapped her hand down on his arm, not realizing how hard she could actually hit. Playful grin. She took a breath.

"the answer is obviously B! segmental opposition is the principle that two separate yet equal social entities will unite to counter another group. Thus, while you may be in conflict with some members of your family, anthropologically, you join with your family when they are threatened by another family, or, the world. Okay, well, you haven't been correct so far, but there's still hope!"

**BONES**BONES**BONES**BONES**BONES**

Six hours into the trip the sky outside of the windows had faded completely of color. It was covered in a velvet sheet of black with twinkling lights high in the sky. Booth blinked aggressively in an attempt to stay awake. Hi partner was softly snoring, facing the other way and curled up in her seat. She looked so beautiful to him at that moment he just wanted to freeze time and stare in adoration. Eventually his attention was needed on the road. It was a long road, they still had a couple of hours left until they were in Michigan. If his mind wasn't occupied with driving then, he probably would have been reviewing the case files that had sent the partners away.

He decided to mentally recall his knowledge. Firstly, there was the Jameson case. They had to talk to the victim's father, Lee, who lived on the outskirts of the city. They also had found some frequent communicative activity (like phone calls and emails) between Jameson and this rowing-club-turned-gang in which they had to chase up. Those people were sure to know something.

There was also another case in which Booth and Brennan were consulting with the local PD and a whole family was burned in their home. Doctor Brennan's expertise was required and she would not do it without Booth.

So the partners had a bit of work to do, but first they had to get there.

Booth yawned once again. All of a sudden, the car jolted to a stop. Booth looked around frantically, shoved the key back in drive and tried the clutch. No go. What was wrong? He turned the key twice, it spluttered, then crackled, and then silence. After a moment of two, he decided to get out and check under the hood. He slipped out of his seat, trying not to wake Bones who was in a deep slumber. He lifted up the hood. As soon as he did, clouds of smoke escaped from inside the car. Not good. Booth checked the oil, water and battery. All seemed fine.

He went back around to the car and got his cell out of its holder. Yes! He had one bar of service. He called his on-the-road car helpline, hoping they could help him, or even let him know how he could find out where they were.

The call was not helpful and Booth cursed the phone. He couldn't understand the electronic dispatcher, he definitely knew more about cars than the computer he was trying to converse with. But that was what he got for calling at such a late hour. It was impossible for someone to come out and help in the night; Booth felt silly when he couldn't even supply his whereabouts. Maybe he should have considered one of those 'smart phones' that Bones said had a built in GPS.

Footsteps approached behind him. Then a voice,

"What's wrong Booth? Where are we?"

"I don't know what happened and I don't know where we are! The car just broke down, I have no way of knowing where the hell we are if there is no light to see any signs with!" he raised his palms to the top of his head in a distressed gesture and walked back to the car. He got in.

Brennan thrust a flashlight at him, leaning over the chair. "I found it in the drawer under your dashboard."

"It's a glove box, Bones."

"Well, I didn't see any gloves in there. Ergo, accompanied with the fact that the opening mechanism is more of a drawer than a box, since it pulls open, it is not a rationally acceptable term to say 'glove box'."

Booth smirked at her smart-arse comment. She continued,

"While you were banging on the front of the car, probably not fixing anything because the noise I heard originated from underneath the vehicle, I inspected the torch batteries. There is hardly any acidic content left in these so they will last maybe a few minutes, a dozen at the most. I suggest the most logical thing to do would be sleep until the morning. Then we could call a mechanic. My phone has listed numbers for the area."

The partners got themselves settled in Booth's SUV and Booth checked his cell for the time, it was two hours past midnight. He knew they should have stopped at the last town, instead of being parked on the side of the road. Oh well, there was no going back. With one look at his sleeping partner beside him, he definitely knew he wouldn't turn back from anything, she was right in front of his eyes.

**A.N: Well? Thoughts? I would love to hear what you think! Either review (please!) or, even better, follow me on twitter. I'm rachelalicehope. From there you will hear more regularly how I am doing with the story and when I am near posting. Xx I love everyone! xX **

**I must say, I think I am turning hippie, recently all I can think about is how cool it would be to have Julia Gillard, Osama Bin Laden and Barack Obama having a picnic of lentils and mung beans and falafels on a hill, making daisy chains and watching the rainbows in the sky. Yeah. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Hopefully you guys like this chapter :) lots of boothy-brennanyness still!**

**I love you guys! Don't forget, follow me on twitter! rachelalicehope **

**Disclaimer: it's not mine. But it would be if HH had an eBay account. Hacking alert! ;) **

Brennan's eyes blinked open and she saw her partner's perfectly structured face staring back at her with a peaceful, sleepy smile on his face. He looked so different when he was asleep. Actually, he looked a lot like his son, Parker…

Her thoughts were abruptly stopped when Booth's eyes were open and staring into hers. His mouth turned into a grin. He tucked a strand of her sleep-messed hair behind her ear. She chuckled at him.

"What?" Booth beamed.

"You know, sleeping like this was alright. You don't kick me as much as you would in a single motel bed or trailer van because you aren't able to fully extend your limbs. And, well, neither am I. but it's nice."

"Ahh, Bones. You are special."

Brennan saw that the sun's rays were just peeking over the horizon. They should get back on the road soon.

"Get out." Brennan suddenly started to force him out of the car, reaching over him to open the door.

"Bones! What the heck are you doing?" he tried as he might to stay rooted to his seat, but his partner was forceful.

"No need for the incompetence, Booth! I need to get changed before we get on the road. And I need to brush my hair."

Booth sighed and stepped out of the vehicle without further resistance and leant against the car to wait, glaring at the roadside bushes. Brennan grabbed a spare change of clothes from the top of the bag she packed, and her toiletry bag. She changed quickly and made the best she could of the front of her hair. Booth heard the impact of Brennan's hairbrush thumping against the seat and looked over to see if she needed help. One look at his partner's face and he opened the door, carefully took the hairbrush from Brennan and began to work. He lightly swept the hair off the nape of her neck and ever so carefully, struggled to undo the knots in her beautiful hair, massaging his finger into her scalp.

"Thanks" she muttered.

Once her hair was smooth and Booth was certain all the knots were gone, he handed the brush back to her. Then he walked around to his door and reached over the back to grab his duffel bag.

"It's my turn now. I like my bed hair the way it is though." Booth grinned at Bones. No further explanation was needed. Brennan did the same as Booth, and waited for her partner to change. Sure, they could have gotten a motel room, Bones would have changed the unhygienic motel sheets to her own type and swapped the pillowcases, they would have had to buy dinner from a restaurant and pay for a motel that catered well, but Bones was happy eating drive-through take-out and sleeping on the road with her partner.

By the time Booth emerged from the car, Brennan had called the mechanic in the outer suburbs of Michigan, her phone GPS told her they were only an hour out from there.

"Hey Booth, apparently the problem lies in a misfire of the cylinders. To resolve the problem an ignition coil will need replacing. A mechanic can be here in an hour to fix it."

"That's great we know the problem, and how to fix it, but I could do it by myself! Now we are going to have to wait for them to come out, expecting 800 dollars…"

"It's not necessary to pay 800 dollars! It's only a small job; we aren't as far out of town as we thought we could be…"

"Well, I know mechanics, Bones. If they can get their hands on 800 dollars for a job, they are going to take it."

"You can just get work to pay for it, Booth! It's not a big deal anyway. We should review the case files again, see if we missed anything."

"For the third time? Come on! You know our clarity, we are a good team, and we don't miss anything!"

"How else do you suggest we use our time then?"

About an hour later, a car approached them and parked right behind them. Bones looked up from a file to see Booth dump his papers and jog over to the other car.

The car was back in drive, they were on the road, and Brennan was sure they didn't need any more of her trivia game. She wasn't too sure if Booth enjoyed the anthropological lesson on culture.

Booth looked over at her. She caught him from the corner of her eye, and smiled. Booth spoke up.

"Hannah and I broke up, y'know. I just thought I should tell you, since we are partners… who spend a lot of our time together. And it's mainly the reason why I went on field work alone with Sweets to the hospital the other day to talk to the victim's boss."

"Wow Booth. Uh, how are you dealing with it? Are you alright?"

"Come on, the reason I didn't tell Sweets is 'cause… I was trying to avoid those questions."

"I was merely trying to show concern. What _should_ I say then? Congratulations are certainly not in order. You told me that you, as a couple, were 'serious as a heart attack'."

"I, Um, I don't know Bones. We just lost our spark, you know? Every conversation or suggestion turned into an argument… it got too much to handle. And she really missed her work over in Afghanistan. Eventually she was needed there, she really is a 'nomad' as you would say, really... and … she still seemed to think there was… at some time… you know…" Booth made suggestive gestures. "Between you… and me."

"What? No! That is strictly against regulations! And you, as an alpha male, are very loyal in relationships. You always tell me that you would never cheat on a woman! Yet I find myself feeling sorry for you Booth. I'm sorry she broke your heart."

"It's OK, Bones."

However close the partners were, they always knew their comfort zone, and outside relationships were not in that zone. That was part of the reason Bones felt slightly guilty at the news. She reached out a comforting hand to rest on his free one.

When they were finally reaching the outskirts of Michigan the sun was high in the sky. Booth cruised through the streets; the chit-chat of the partners was occasionally interrupted by the GPS instructions from Brennan's phone.

They reached the hotel that was previously booked for them by the FBI and checked in early, but not as early as usual. They always rushed when they were on the road, tried to get there with no pit stops or rest.

It was a nice hotel; it had everything that one could think of. Bones wanted to stay in something upper-class because she wanted the hygiene to be as good as possible. Knowing all she did about particulates and microorganisms within a shared environment, she sometimes didn't feel comfortable staying in anything less than great. But she brought her own sheets and pillows anyway. However, Booth didn't care what the bed was like as long as it didn't hurt his back.

When they were unpacked and settled, there was still a good couple hours of daylight. Booth had just tested out the TV when he spoke,

"Since it's only 4, you think we could do something, maybe check out the city?"

"We are in a good location, we could take a walk. I think I saw a great park on the way here, we could have a look." Bones suggested.

And so the partners took the next two hours taking a walk through the park, drinking coffees and feeding ducks. It may seem like procrastinating, since they were there for work purposes, and they probably should have been interviewing suspects or something work related, but they needed the relaxation. They decided to start the hard work the next day; a good night's sleep was actually needed. It took a lot of convincing from Booth to take the rest of the day off, because Bones thought that a walk meant half an hour, then a full night of work.

As the sun was setting they decided on an early dinner and found a nice little restaurant, still within walking distance of their hotel. The food and the service was wonderful, Booth even had a great apple pie for dessert. As they walked back to the hotel in the dark street, Booth slipped his arm around Bones' waist. It was comfortable that way, the closeness.

Booth was lying in bed, about an hour later, it was early but they decided to get a sufficient amount of sleep before they worked all day and possibly most of the next night. He was warm in the bed, it was comfortable. But it didn't feel right. He was bored.

Summoning the inner teenager inside of him that was nagging to emerge, he opened his eyes and stared at his partner in the dim light. She was nearly asleep in the bed next to his; their beds were in the same room. He grinned, and called out,

"Hey Bones!"

Booth watched as she opened her eyes slowly and sleepily, and simply smiled at him. Booth didn't actually think about what to say to Bones after he woke her.

"Where are we gonna start tomorrow hey? I know we've been over it a thousand times but, I need something to think about."

Brennan frowned at him; obviously she was trying to sleep. But it was actually really early for Booth and his body wasn't ready to shut down just yet.

This time Bones showed some sign of life, she shifted around and groaned.

"Go to sleep, Booth."

He listened to what she said for a few minutes, but gave up. He just couldn't get comfortable.

"HEY BONES?" Cheeky grin.

Bones groaned and mumbled something unintelligible.

"Goodnight, Booth."

Booth sighed,

"Goodnight Bones. Sweet dreams" he whispered softly, and finally became tired. Eventually sleep washed over him.

**So? Is it alright? I hope people are still reading this; can you guys please simply review? Just tell me if you like it, if it made you laugh or something, or if you hate it? Any response it appreciated! **

**And twitter - rachelalicehope! :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hello! Thanks for the reviews/ alerts! Did people find me on twitter? If so, that's great! I hope you like this chapter! :) Here's one to bring us back to the case, out of Booth-Brennan land… more of that next chapter. **

**Sorry it's late, I've been stuck on one page for a while now, I can't think of what else to write. Wow, a million things have happened since I last uploaded, I sprained my ankle, I've been to shows and festivals, exams, and now I have a relaxing day of nothingness and boredom. Yay :) **

**I don't own Bones, or the characters, or the lab, or the angelator for that matter. (Haha **_**Anglia's tablet**_**… I wonder if anyone understands that, Tamara and Michaela would, inside jokes lol audio commentaries are awesome :3)**

**BONES**BONES**BONES**BONES**BONES **

Angela Montenegro stared at the computer screen, in shock. The search had just concluded with one result. And that one result, it had to be a coincidence.

Once she had finished that search, she took note of the results and started another one on the next piece of evidence. And after it had finished a few hours later, Angela was once again in shock, but that time it was different. She knew that coincidences didn't happen twice in a row.

The first test was a scan for what weapon could have made the injuries; she had come up with a knife with very small serrations, about 0.1mm apart, the blade a total of 127-130 mm long, about 5 inches. She had some traces for Hodgins to run. Angela ran this through the database for previous cases and discovered it was used in another case. This is the same measurements as used in another DC case, one she knew well, and it still hurt to think about it.

The second scan for evidence had come up with the result of a hair she found at the crime scene. And she had just found its owner. She wished it wasn't true, but it was. And these results she had to record, it was the law to document it all.

Angela wished her best friend was in town. But she wasn't. Brennan was off having fun with her work partner in Michigan, chasing up leads.

She rested the keyboard on her pregnant belly and sighed. She was just about to video call Brennan before footsteps approached behind her and Hodgins leant on an empty spot of her desk.

"Hey" he smiled. Angela smiled back, but sensed that they should sit down. Angela rose and they both crossed the short distance to the couch. Hodgins knew better than to help her move around, he would just get a deathly glare.

She knew that he was there to talk, because if his visit was for work then he would have brought evidence or something. She rested her hand on his knee affectionately.

"Hey, what's up?" She asked.

"Well, I came into here to ask you something, but I don't know… I mean it's not relevant to the case anyway… well, I should know it's not true…"

"Jack, whatever you want to say…"

He cleared his throat. "You know how Zack is a patient of the victim, I just hope more evidence doesn't conclude to this but… are they taking him in for questioning?"

Thankfully for Hodgins, Angela shook her head.

"No. Brennan knows about his relation to the victim, but they have no more reason for questioning him unless they find more evidence. At this point if they question Zack, they might as well question the rest of his patients too. But for now they are in the dark, for all they know their doctor is on vacation." She finished with an assuring smile.

"But," Angela continued, "I may or may not have found something, Booth and Brennan may have to have a talk with him. God I hope not though. It would be a mess; I for one for sure wouldn't work to prosecute him." Hodgins placed a hand on top of hers, which was on his knee.

"What are you on about Ange?" It took a bit of prompting, but Angela decided to show him what she had found, no matter the outcome from what he thought.

She brought up the results she had just gotten from the computer, and presented him the evidence. The cold, hard facts. The knife details she had run through the previous cases database – as part of protocol – had in fact discovered that one of these previous cases where the same knife was used in a stabbing was in fact the murder of the lobbyist who Zack allegedly killed.

She showed him the hair that she found which belonged to Zack Addy.

Hodgins turned to her and pulled a miniscule piece of cloth about the size of a small raisin from the pocket of his lab coat, "I really should have given this to you when I came in, but yeah, I wanted to talk it over first. I found this in between the victim's teeth, he actually _bit _the attacker." He reached over her to grab a petri dish from a neat pile of equipment and placed the tiny piece of dirty white cloth on it, handing it to Angela. She placed the dish underneath the laser beams to analyse the traces and provide a virtual version.

Hodgins snaked an arm around her waist as she stood to use the wall-sized plasma and grinned like an idiot, he loved watched Angie and her tricks. He really wouldn't mind seeing her brain naked.

"So I've got this analysing, and I'll run the threads and the specific colour through spatula and see if I come up with anything." She said, tapping away on the control tablet.

"How long will it take?"

"Oh, maybe about 5 minutes… so really, with what my evidence says, do you really think it could be Zack? How did his hair get on the body?"

"Well, that's for us to find out, isn't it?"

"Yeah, of course, but even if it really is his hair, and the knife he used, how did he get out to dump the body? How did he get the knife out of the evidence locker? All without leaving his… his cell? It's not possible because of evidence, and really, it's just not possible for _Zack _is it?

"Well, my best theory is that he was framed."

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Angela agreed with a relieved sigh, "Zack wouldn't do anything bad anyway."

"So, bare truth, do you think Zack could ever murder someone, even though he's being punished for it now?"

"No way, you?"

"Nah, not Zack."

They both exchanged a smile, they knew that they would always support each other, back each other up.

And then the scan was finished, a flashing result popped up on the screen.

The piece of fabric came from a standard issue DC hospital psychiatric ward patient shirt.

**So… is Zack being framed for the murder of his psychologist? And what are Booth and Brennan up to in Michigan? I would love any opinions or ideas! :)**

**I really hope you liked this chapter; I'm in a huge writing mood today so I hope I'm over the little bout of blockage. I hope everyone is having a lovely day! Please, review on your way out. :)**


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